Egypt announced on Monday it expects to receive new doses of the Pfizer, AstraZenca and Johnson & Johnson vaccine, stressing the role the inoculation drive plays in curbing daily COVID-19 infections.
The Ministry of Health confirmed that the second dose of the vaccine is safe for all residents who received the first jab.
Egypt has in recent weeks witnessed a significant decline in coronavirus infections.
On Monday, the country recorded 117 new cases, bringing the total to 283,102. The Health Ministry announced 13 new deaths, raising the total to 16,396 nationwide.
Meanwhile, Health and Population Minister Hala Zayed said Monday that Egypt agreed to join the Treaty for the Establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA), which aims to localize the manufacture of medicines and vaccines across Africa.
The announcement came during a press conference in the presence of representative of the African Union for the AMA, Michel Sidibe and head of the health division at the African Union Commission, Dr. Margaret Agama.
“Egypt will work through the AMA to serve the African people, and supply them with medicines and vaccines that are produced locally in Egypt, after achieving local sufficiency and according to the signed agreements,” Zayed said.
For his part, Sidibe praised Egypt’s efforts to locally manufacture medicines and vaccines. “Countries that are incapable of securing vaccine doses, would be unable to protect their people,” he stressed.
Sidibe said 15 million out of Africa’s 1.3 billion people have been already inoculated against the virus.
Meanwhile, Health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said Egypt will receive 2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of the week, in addition to raw materials sufficient to produce 10 million Sinovac doses.
He confirmed that the coming days should witness an expansion of the vaccination drive after Egypt receives a large quantity of doses.
Presidential Adviser for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din said Egypt is on its way to gradually receive 25 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines from the African Union.
In an interview with a local channel, he confirmed that Egypt has not yet recorded any case of the Delta variant, adding that his country is dealing firmly with the pandemic to prevent a fourth wave.
In a related development, Advisor to the Ministry of Health for Research Dr. Noha Assem confirmed that Egypt is heading towards self-sufficiency in vaccines, adding that the country should meet all local needs by August.
